Mark2010

I watched the video and sad to hear any person has taken their own life. It mentions he took finasteride 12 years ago for a brief time but he only recently committed suicide. How are they convinced it has anything to do with finasterdie he once took and not other current problems the patient might have actually had?

Dr Scott Alexander

I knew this guy it was finasterdie that messed him up.

He had severe insomnia and other problems which were caused by finasterdie.

There was also another guy in the UK by the name of Paul Dixon who took is life last year because he could not live with the side effects finasterdie had left him with.

Propecia Suicides - Randy Santmann - Patrick Ortiz - John Pfaff - Daniel Stewart - Stephen Kenney - Merck Propecia Suicides - Mens Hair Loss Drug Finasteride

RIP Nick Barringston.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjJhXGcy-A8

Dr. Andrew Rynne was years ahead of his time when he warned people about Finasteride.

Post-Finasteride Syndrome

 

 

Post-Finasteride Syndrome

 

 

Prescriber Update 37(1): 8-9

March 2016

Key Messages

 

 

 

• Post-Finasteride Syndrome is a recently recognised condition that occurs in some men who have taken finasteride.
  
• Symptoms (sexual, physical, and mental and neurological) often persist after the patient has stopped taking finasteride.
  
• Patients should be informed of the risks of taking finasteride prior to treatment initiation.
  
• The symptoms associated with Post-Finasteride Syndrome should be discussed with patients prior to treatment.
  

 

 

 

Post-Finasteride Syndrome (PFS) is a recently recognised condition that can occur in patients who have taken finasteride1. Finasteride is a 5-alpha reductase type II enzyme inhibitor used to treat hair loss (eg, Propecia, Profal and ReGen) or enlarged prostate (eg, Proscar, Finasteride Rex and Fintral).

PFS includes sexual, physical, and mental and neurological symptoms in patients who have taken finasteride (Table 1). Symptoms often persist after the patient has stopped taking finasteride.

Table 1: Reported symptoms of Post-Finasteride Syndrome1

Sexual Symptoms Physical Symptoms Mental and Neurological Symptoms Decreased or complete loss of sex drive Female-like breast development and enlargement Severe memory/recall impairment Erectile dysfunction, impotence Chronic fatigue, listlessness Slowed thought processes Loss of morning and spontaneous erections Muscle atrophy, weakness Impaired problem solving, decreased comprehension Sexual anhedonia, loss of pleasurable orgasm Decreased oil and sebum production Depression Decreased semen volume and force Chronically dry, thinning of skin Anxiety Penile shrinkage and numbness Melasma Suicidal ideation Peyronie’s disease Tinnitus Emotional flatness and anhedonia Scrotal shrinkage and numbness Increased fat deposition, obesity and elevated body mass index Insomnia Decrease in body temperature Reduced HDL cholesterol, raised fasting glucose and triglycerides Attempted suicide Completed suicide

Importantly, some patients can experience suicidal ideation and depression after stopping finasteride treatment. Patients and their families should be advised about these symptoms and to seek medical advice as soon as possible if they occur.

Unfortunately, PFS is a condition with no known cure and few, if any, effective treatments.

Further information about PFS can be found on the Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foundation website (www.pfsfoundation.org/).

To date, the Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring (CARM) has received 10 reports associating finasteride use with at least one of the symptoms of PFS listed in Table 1. Age, when reported, ranged from 22 to 81 years of age. Only three patients reported that they had recovered at the time of the report.

Please report any adverse events, including those associated with PFS, to CARM (https://nzphvc.otago.ac.nz/).

 

If reps from other clinics are doing that, it sounds like an unethical thing to do and sounds like a serious offense on a forum that's dedicated to share knowledge about hairloss. If other clinics are trying to spread wrong info so that their business blooms, they need to be exposed for the benefit of users like you and me. Please contact the mods !

Dr. Andrew Rynne is not a "hair transplant surgeon" he is simply a Doctor who is concerned about the side effects of Finasteride.

Finasteride

Hi,

 

Can someone PM a site where i can buy Fin without prescription? i cant get anywhere!

 

Thanks,

Trust me you don't better off without it.

No disrespect but this is BS... There's only a small fraction of finasteride users that report these sides.

 

I could easily 'get initimate' and do the whole show 3x a day if I had the opportunity. Been on fin for 11 years. No man boobs either.

Yes but when you do get those side effects it destroys your life. You are basically playing russian roulette with your health by taking finasteride.

Dr Raghbir Singh is a crook.

Man who made nearly ?150k selling hair loss pills illegally SPARED jail | UK | News | Daily Express

A DISGRACED doctor who made nearly ?150,000 in just five months by selling hair loss medication illegally over the internet was spared jail today.

Raghbir Singh set up a website in 2011 to sell over-the-counter drugs but quickly became embroiled in supplying unauthorised medication just months later.

The GP, who was suspended after the scandal emerged, sold products used to treat enlarged prostate glands, urinary infections and male pattern baldness containing the compound Finasteride.

He peddled drugs from India, some of which were not licenced for use in the UK, and made an astonishing ?142,016 profit between June and November 2013

The 68-year-old sold products Proscar, Propecia and Finasteride, all of which contain the drug Finasteride, but also a similar and unlicensed product called Finpecia which contains the same compound.

The possible side-effects of Finasteride include, cold sweats, confusion and dizziness, as well as itchy skin, rapid weight gain and swelling to the face, limbs, hands and feet.

In extreme cases it can result in bloody discharge from the nipples and lumps in the breasts or underarms.

Finasteride can cause birth defects when exposed to heavily-pregnant women.

Singh was stopped at Gatwick Airport carrying more than 16,000 Finpecia pills in April 2013 by the UKBA who referred him to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The elderly doctor insisted at the time he was unaware that Finpecia was unauthorised but was suspended by the General Medical Council.

Despite his suspension, he still managed to set up another business named UKFinasteride.info where he continued to flog the drugs, Southwark Crown Court heard.

He was caught when investigators from the MHRA successfully ordered 28 Finpecia pills from his business.

A subsequent search at his property in West Sussex then found massive quantities of Finasteride products.

Singh admitted two counts of supply of prescription-only medications without a valid prescription, and two counts of possession of medical products with intent to supply without a valid prescription.

Judge Anthony Leonard QC handed down a four month suspended sentence.

In his remarks he said: "By your pleas of guilty you have brought an end to your distinguished career as a doctor and of course you have lost your good name in society.

"There are two aspects which I consider make the offence serious, firstly the importation of Finpecia, which can't be prescribed in this country.

"Secondly, you continued to prescribe these drugs after you had been told you should not."

He has also been condemned to wear an electronic tag and to follow a 8pm and 7am curfew for the next two months.

Nicholas Hamblin, defending, said Singh should be given a lenient sentence because of his plea of guilty and because of his poor health.

He said: "This is not a fraud on the NHS - often these kinds of cases give rise to a significant burden on the public purse.

"He was working as a doctor effectively from January 1976 and there were no disciplinary hearings against him at any stage for any other matter. He had a practice in Dalston until 2001.

"He retired because he was unwell, and he receives a small pension from the NHS.

"This is a case that has a very sad ending, over the course of many years he's done so many good things for so many people - it really is a sadness that at the age of 68 he should end up at Southwark Crown Court."

Singh lives alone after he seperated from his wife.

The suspended doctor of Three Bridges in West Sussex also suffers from hypotension and mobility problems due to knee injuries.

How much is proscar in Ireland?

 

In-house pharmacy don't deliver to Ireland or other websites.

 

So how much could I get it for and where without paying rediculous prices??

 

I appreciate any reply.

Trust me you don't want to use it.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-treatment-for-hair-loss-1/answer/Andrew-Rynne?ref=fb

http://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/health/are-hair-loss-drugs-safe-20150914

Go see your doctor about a receding hairline, and there's a good chance you'll walk away with a prescription for finasteride — better known by its brand name, Propecia. The FDA-approved pill, which came out in 1997, thickens hair in 65 percent of those who take it. More than 26 new generic versions, priced at less than a dollar a pill (versus $3 for Propecia), have made the drug even more attractive. While the packaging warns of a 1 to 2 percent chance of temporary sexual side effects, millions of men consider it a risk worth taking. But emerging research and a slew of lawsuits suggest that finasteride may be more dangerous than previously believed, with side effects — inability to orgasm, painful erections, chronic depression, insomnia, brain fog, and suicidal thoughts — that can last long after patients stop taking the pill.

"My yardstick for treating any patient is, what would I do if this were my own son?" says Dr. Nelson Novick, a clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. "Ten years ago I would have answered differently, but now I would not feel comfortable recommending Propecia to a young, sexually active man."

Most dermatologists still prescribe finasteride, explaining that they rarely hear of persistent symptoms from patients. There could be a reason for that, researchers say. Men may have no idea that cognitive side effects would have anything to do with taking a hair-loss pill, particularly if those problems continue after they stop taking the drug. And many would be embarrassed to bring up sexual problems to a dermatologist or researcher, particularly a female. "Sexual impairment induced by antidepressant drugs was underestimated for decades for just this reason," wrote Thomas Moore, a researcher with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, in an editorial in the June issue of JAMA Dermatology. Moore said side-effect estimates for those drugs have since jumped from between 1 and 3 percent to between 30 and 60 percent.

RELATED: 10 Myths And Facts About Hair Loss

Since 2011, 1,245 lawsuits have been filed against Propecia's manufacturer, Merck, alleging that the company failed to warn users of a constellation of sexual and cognitive side effects — which patients and physicians call Post-Finasteride Syndrome (PFS) because, they say, symptoms often persist after discontinuing the drug. This spring, the National Institutes of Health added PFS to its rare-diseases database. And in March, a California woman filed the first wrongful death suit against Merck. Her husband, a 40-year-old IT executive and father of two with no history of mental illness, killed himself in March 2013. His family blames finasteride.

In a statement, Merck said the company "stands behind the demonstrated safety and efficacy profile of Propecia." In recent years, it also added depression and persistent sexual problems to its list of possible side effects, deep in the fine print. It intends to defend itself vigorously when the first cases go to court, likely in 2016. The company will undoubtedly argue that millions use Propecia without harm — sales hit $264 million in 2014 — and that serious problems are rare.

Not rare enough, says Steven Rossello, a 32-year-old who filed the first suit against Merck, in 2011. "There's a lot of talk about sexual side effects, but the worst effects are the mental ones," Rossello says. Despite stopping the drug in 2010, he says he suffered a finasteride-induced long-term depression that cost him his fianc?e and job as an agent with the Department of Homeland Security.

Recent research suggests that finasteride can impact levels of neuro-protective, mood-regulating steroids in the brain, explains Dr. Michael Irwig, an associate professor of medicine at George Washington University whose research has linked its use to depression and suicidal tendencies. According to a review published in Pharmacotherapy: The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy in July, the FDA has received more than three dozen reports of suicidal tendencies among Propecia users. Most resulted in hospitalization, death, or disability.

RELATED: Everything You Need to Know to Treat Erectile Dysfunction

"Patients and physicians have been falsely reassured," says Steven Belknap, an assistant professor of dermatology at Northwestern University. In a meta-analysis published in JAMA Dermatology in April, he reviewed the 34 clinical trials performed on finasteride and found that "none adequately assessed safety," and all underreported potential adverse effects. "It is stunning," says Belknap. "Here we are 18 years after the initial approval, and if someone were to ask me if this drug is safe, I would have to say, 'I don't know.' " Merck, in its statement, said it "conducted well-designed clinical trials."

Why do so many doctors still prescribe the drug? The research on its cognitive side effects is relatively new, and the number of patients reporting problems low, dermatologists say. "I don't hesitate to prescribe it to appropriate patients, but I do spend more time now counseling them about the risks," says Boulder, Colorado, dermatologist Jeanie Leddon.

Knowing the drug's origins might prompt some to shy away from it. Finasteride has its roots in the 1970s, when scientists discovered a rare group of men in the Dominican Republic who were born with ambiguous genitalia and often mistakenly raised as girls. These men possessed other unique traits: They never lost their hair or had prostate problems. This was because they failed to produce an enzyme that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. DHT is critical for fetal development of male genitals, but in adults it impairs hair growth. Enter Merck, which unveiled a compound — finasteride — that slashes DHT levels 70 percent. As Belknap puts it, the drug works by mimicking the sex-steroid profile of pseudohermaphrodites. Some former male users equate this to "chemical castration." To this day, health officials warn women not to even touch finasteride pills, because doing so could cause genital malformations in an unborn boy.

In 1992, drug companies rolled out a finasteride tablet to treat an enlarged prostate. It's still prescribed by urologists who contend that, in this case, avoiding serious health problems outweighs the risk. Propecia, however, is a different story. "This is cosmetic," stresses Belknap. "This is not a lifesaving drug." And one that may come with a steep price.

– Lisa Marshall

Read more: http://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/health/are-hair-loss-drugs-safe-20150914#ixzz3mQEGgWsn

Follow us: @mensjournal on Twitter | MensJournal on Facebook

Mark,

 

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. But before making any kind of judgments, I will be investigating this further and speaking to the doctor to get his side of the story. News media often tends to wrongfully portray people and situations and I certainly don't want to make judgment without speaking to the doctor himself.

 

The sun till I speak with the doctor, I encourage members to hold off on making any judgments. However we will not approve him for a recommendation until we uncover the reality of the situation.

 

Best,

 

Bill

Hi Bill,

Just out of interest do you recommend Dr Maurice Collins of HRBR ?

With all the information that is now out there somebody would want to be crazy to risk taking Finasteride. Even leading hair loss clinics such as the Belgravia clinic admit that Finasteride can cause "permanent impotence".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYGdHgR7Qj0

One of Ireland's most respected Doctor's Andrew Rynne has called Finasteride a

"dangerous toxic medication".

People who claim Propecia is a "safe" drug should read this study.

Study: Subpar Adverse Event Reporting in Trials of Finasteride for Male Hair Loss - Plastic Surgery Practice

Erectile dysfunction and low sex drive are inadequately reported in trials of finasteride for treatment of male hair loss, new research suggests.

The findings appear in the April 1 issue JAMA Dermatology. This study is the first meta-analysis of the quality of safety reporting in clinical trials of finasteride for treatment of male hair loss.

Not one of the 34 published clinical trial reports provided adequate information about the severity, frequency, or reversibility of sexual adverse effects. Adequate quality of adverse event reporting requires using an explicit toxicity scale to grade adverse event severity and reported numbers and/or rates of occurrence for each specific type of adverse event per study arm, the study authors point out.

Of 5,704 men in a clinical data repository from Northwestern University in Chicago who were treated for male pattern baldness with finasteride, only 31% would meet inclusion criteria for the pivotal trials referenced in the manufacturer’s “Full Prescribing Information.”

Thus, the available information from clinical trials does not apply to most of these men in Northwestern’s study population who took finasteride for male pattern baldness. For example, some men with hair loss who are taking finasteride have diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, or are taking other drugs such as diuretics or antidepressants that also increase the risk of sexual dysfunction.

Duration of drug safety evaluation was limited to 1 year or less for 26 of 34 trials (76%). But 33% of men in the clinical data repository took finasteride for more than 1 year.

The published clinical trial reports did not answer the key questions doctors and patients want to know:

1) How safe is finasteride? Specifically, what is the risk that a man taking finasteride will develop sexual dysfunction?

2) How severe is finasteride-associated sexual dysfunction when it happens to a man?

3) If a man gets sexual dysfunction while taking finasteride, will sexual function return to normal when the drug is stopped? What is the risk of persistent sexual dysfunction associated with taking finasteride?

“People who take or prescribe the drug assume it’s safe, but there is insufficient information to make that judgment,” says lead study author Dr Steven Belknap, research assistant professor of dermatology and general internal medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, in a news release. “Our findings raise several questions,” Belknap says. “Why do the published reports of these 34 clinical trials not provide adequate information about the severity and frequency of sexual toxicity? Was this information obtained but then not included in published articles? Or, were these clinical trials performed in a way that simply didn’t capture this essential information? And most importantly, is the risk to benefit ratio of finasteride acceptable?”

The study is a report from the Research on Adverse Drug Events and Reports (RADAR) project at Northwestern’s Feinberg School. The RADAR study points to a larger problem in the way clinical trials are performed and analyzed in meta-analyses. “Typically, there is more focus on the desirable effects of the drug being studied compared to the toxic effects,” Belknap adds.

- See more at: Study: Subpar Adverse Event Reporting in Trials of Finasteride for Male Hair Loss - Plastic Surgery Practice

Hi, off topic a little.

 

In the UK we have to obtain a prescription for finasteride as do guys in the US and often many family GP's will not as not informed on the medication or patients don't wish to obtain one from their own family GP for one reason or another. Therefore patients need purchase a private prescription for the medication and this costs. Is this pretty much how it works in the US too?

 

If so what is the average cost of the prescription ?

 

Spex

Spex your the one who is "not informed" on how dangerous Finasteride is.

You and your ilk who peddle Finasteride are destroying lives.

does anybody know if finasteride is available in ireland for the treatment of MPB through the prescription of a GP or will i have to go through Hair Clinic Black Rock (HRBR) with there expensive consulatation fees. (250euros).

Before you take the drug please listen to one Irish users experience on the drug.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSByZuo8UPw

Trust me you dont want to take finasteride it destroyed my life.

I'd give anything to be able to turn back the clock and have never have taking

finasteride.

Listen to Dr Andrew Rynne's wise words on the drug.

 

My guess is there won't be any better alternative to hairloss by the time I'm 35 (I'm 31 right now), let alone by the time I'm 40. But who knows. Maybe my recession and thinning will stop miraculously.

 

 

 

notsosure,

 

While I don't want to minimize the potential side effects of Propecia, I strongly believe it's only a minority that truly experience them. I've been taking Propecia for 6 years with no noticeable side effects.

 

I'm not trying to convince you to get on Propecia. But it's definitely worth considering to help you keep your existig hair.

 

All the Best,

 

Bill

I would also like to know if loniten is any good.

Ive been taking finesteride for about two weeks now and noticed my lips swelling up they feel like their getting bigger. Has anyone else experienced this ?

Ive heard that finesteride can cause birth defects is this true ?

Should finesteride users always have protected sex to avoid possible problems with their partners pregnancy ?

Thanks for the reply they cliam they did some sort of "clinical test" in a Hospital and got positive results. Are these sort of "clinical tests" just BS ?

Anyone here tried Crescina ?

Hi thanks for the reply I have been using "concentrate" saw palmetto for about 6 months now and have seen no real improvement.